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[Crossover] Ch 94: The Empire of Night
🕑 Added 2025-06-15 17:22:32 +0000 UTC— — — — — —
Inside the command post courtyard
Akaza, sitting idly on the veranda, lazily opened his eyes when he noticed two figures walking through the gate.
Flame Hashira, Kyojuro Rengoku.
Stone Hashira, Gyomei Himejima.
Seeing them, Akaza lit up with a grin.
"Oh? Two of you, huh? So, which one of you is a Hashira?"
Kyojuro stepped forward. "Upper Kizuki Three, right? Are you alone?"
"Hm?"
Akaza glanced at him and immediately lost interest.
"Tch. Just a weakling with barely a flicker of fighting spirit."
One of Akaza's Blood Demon Art abilities allowed him to sense an opponent's fighting aura—and right now, he'd already activated it.
But the two before him... felt no different than regular Demon Slayers. If anything, they were below average.
To someone like Akaza, who lived for the thrill of challenging strong foes, this kind of disappointment was unbearable.
"Wasn't it that useless woman—Kanae Kocho or whatever—who said there were Hashira nearby?" Akaza yawned in boredom.
In the next instant, his body flickered, vanishing.
He reappeared directly in front of Kyojuro and Gyomei, arms already outstretched—his left hand aiming for Kyojuro's heart, his right driving toward Gyomei's stomach.
A double kill in one strike. Efficient. Clean.
Or so he thought.
Schlick—!!
Akaza froze.
His head... was no longer attached. His arms... were lying on the ground, severed cleanly at the shoulders.
His expression turned to pure shock.
"Sun Breathing, First Form: Dance!"
Kyojuro let out a deep exhale, a fiery aura roaring to life around him like a blazing inferno.
Transparent World.
This advanced technique allowed a swordsman to control and suppress their presence to such a degree it became nearly undetectable—allowing for pinpoint precision and control over the body.
Kyojuro had suppressed his aura so effectively that Akaza hadn't sensed a thing... until it was too late.
And now, his head was gone.
For a demon, beheading usually meant one thing: death.
Realizing this, Akaza howled: "COWARDS!! CHEATERS!!"
His voice was raw, furious, guttural.
"You two are Hashira, right?! Demon Slayer Corps elite?! AND YOU ATTACK ME LIKE THAT?!"
"Hiding your aura like rats, ambushing me?! How could you be so despicable?!"
If it had been a straight-up fight, even against two Hashira, Akaza was confident he could hold his own—maybe even escape.
But this—This was underhanded. Shameful. A total setup.
These two...These two had pushed their swordsmanship to the peak of mastery...
And then turned around and used it like absolute scumbags!!
They suppressed their presence by 99.99%, waited for his first strike, and in that split-second—one blocked, one countered, slicing clean through his arms and neck.
Akaza was so angry, blood gushed from his mouth as he roared: "I refuse to accept this!!"
Kyojuro calmly sheathed his blade, his expression noble and unwavering.
"There's a saying from Ryo Yagami: 'All combat is deception.' Outsmarting your enemy and striking when it counts—that's what it means to be a true swordsman. Those who can't even manage that..."
He looked down at Akaza's disintegrating form with cold clarity.
"...aren't worthy of holding a blade."
"R-Ryo... Yagami?!" Akaza's fading eyes widened in disbelief. "How... how could this be possible...?"
His body crumbled into ash, expression twisted in bitter denial—even at the end.
Watching quietly, Gyomei folded his palms together in a solemn prayer.
"Amitabha. The techniques Lord taught us really are effective."
Kyojuro nodded beside him. "Absolutely."
"So, where do we go next?"
"The other Upper Kizuki are being handled. Let's head to the Imperial Palace and prepare for the final assault."
"Right!"
— — —
Elsewhere in Edo, a noble estate briefly seized by demons and now reclaimed by the Demon Slayer Corps...
Upper Kizuki Five, Gyokko, was sprawled on the ground in defeat, sniffling and drooling, trembling as he stared at the boy in front of him.
"N-no way... there's just no way... An eleven-year-old brat... Just a damn eleven-year-old... How could I lose...?!"
Around him, dozens of Demon Slayers stood in stunned silence, watching the child in the center with awe and disbelief.
"You've gotta be kidding me... Muichiro Tokito actually killed an Upper Kizuki?"
"He's only been a Slayer for what—like a month?"
"No, wait, if you count the time since he first picked up a sword, maybe two months max!"
"Two months to kill Upper Kizuki Five?! What the hell is this?!"
"Actually... I heard Lord Yagami personally trained him for a day."
"Ohhh—no wonder he pulled it off. That explains everything."
In the middle of all the chatter, Muichiro stood in a daze, staring up at the clouds.
---
Edo – Chiyoda District.
Upper Kizuki Four, Hantengu, had just taken over an army base with a horde of demons. Surrounded by four split-body clones, he laughed triumphantly.
"Humans resisting us? Hah! What a joke."
"Sure, their bombers and artillery gave us some trouble—but with all this cloudy weather, we, demons, are invincible."
"Besides, we've already got most of Edo's nobles under our thumb. Hold them hostage, and the military won't dare move!"
"With our Lord Ryo Yagami guiding us, and over two thousand demons at our command, the founding of the Empire of Night is all but guaranteed! And I... I shall be its Prime Minister! Wahahaha—!"
THUD.
Suddenly, everything around him shifted.
Hantengu blinked, confused. He was now inside the Infinity Castle.
Standing across from him was a terrifying demon god—silver-haired, golden-eyed, crowned with horns.
Ryo Yagami—Demon Act.
Without hesitation, all five of Hantengu's bodies dropped to the floor in unison.
"My Lord!" x5
Ryo—cleaning blood off his Zanpakutō—glanced down and spoke coolly.
"You've done well, Hantengu."
"I-I owe it all to your guidance, my lord. I wouldn't dare take credit," Hantengu groveled.
Ryo nodded in approval. Clearly pleased with the response.
"At this pace, the Empire of Night is inevitable."
"...But," he said, narrowing his eyes, "it's not enough."
"The blind masses still don't know my name. That... won't do. That won't do at all."
"I-I'm willing to offer whatever service you require!" Hantengu immediately replied, he was waiting for this moment.
Ryo raised an eyebrow—amused.
"Very good."
"Then here's your next order: send out a public broadcast—slaughter the nobles and use them as sacrifices. Announce to the world the birth of the Empire of Night!"
Hantengu froze.
Kill the nobles? But they were their only bargaining chips! Without them, the military would have no reason to hold back!
They only had a few thousand demons—how could they win in a head-on war?
Before he could protest, Ryo's golden eyes narrowed.
"What? Can't do it?"
Hantengu shivered, looking at the bloodstained Zanpakutō in Ryo's hand. He quickly bowed even lower.
"I-I can! Of course I can! It will be done as you command!"
As he returned from the Infinity Castle and arrived back at the Imperial Palace, Hantengu looked like he'd swallowed a hornet's nest—visibly stressed.
Daki, who was stationed nearby, rolled her eyes at him.
"You really don't get it, do you? How are you even Upper Kizuki with such little sense?"
"What do you mean?" Hantengu asked, confused.
"If the Lord is giving that kind of order, don't you think he's already thought everything through?"
Daki snorted.
"When has he ever done something reckless? You think he's just winging it?"
"Yeah!" Hantengu suddenly smacked his forehead.
Ryo Yagami—no, the one who was once Muzan Kibutsuji—wasn't some reckless idiot. Even his own followers feared him.
There was no way he'd make such a bold move without a trump card in hand. He had a backup plan. A really good one.
A plan so airtight, he didn't even need to worry about the army.
Realizing this, Hantengu grinned.
"So those nobles really are useless now, huh? In that case... killing them doesn't seem so bad. Keeping them alive just means wasting manpower—and they're looking mighty tasty, too."
With that, Hantengu dashed off toward the palace prison.
"I got it now! I'll go butcher the nobles and announce our glorious rise to the world!"
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